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Goal

The implementation of practical activities
to improve the environmental state of the River Chyngul and its
tributary, the River Kurkulak, by involving the authorities and
population in the project.

Objectives

to organise practical activities to improve the environmental state of
the west-bank tributary of the River Molochna - the River Chyngul - and its
small tributary - the River Kurkulak; to conduct educational environmental
activities among village schoolchildren and the population in general;

to disseminate information about the urgent environmental problems of
the small rivers in Zaporizka Oblast among the inhabitants of the local
villages and the towns of Tokmak and Molochansk, as well as to demonstrate
practical ways to solve the problems through various environmental
activities (planting trees, collecting rubbish, clearing up streams, etc.),
through conducting research and educational expeditions, showing
demonstration films on environmental topics, and giving lectures and talks
to schoolchildren;

to publish a booklet, "The River Chyngul. Past, present and future…";

to conduct polls among the local population and authorities aimed at
defining their level of interest in improving the environmental state of the
rivers;

to conduct an ecological assessment on the subject of the reconstruction
of a part of the bed of the River Chyngul;

to make and install information posters in the "Floodplain of the
River Chyngul" reserve of local importance.

Project Area

Zaporizka Oblast

Results

An enquiry was conducted among the local population
and authorities in order to identify their level of interest in
improving the environmental state of rivers

A sociological inquiry was conducted among residents
of Tokmak city and surrounding villages and representatives of the
authorities; Zhovtneva Village Council and children from
Chervonogirska Secondary School were involved in the activities.
Residents of riverside villages as well as citizens of Tokmak and
representatives of the authorities were questioned. In total, 200
people were consulted. The results of the questionnaires were as
follows:

100% of respondents noted that the river had become shallower recently and often dried up;

21% considered the reason for this to be communal rubbish thrown into the river; 20% (mainly old people) – cutting of trees and bushes, 29% (mainly old people) – the establishment of ponds and dikes; 29% (mainly those who live very close to river) – cattle grazing, ploughing and canalisation; 30% did not answer this
question;

22% (mostly schoolchildren) considered those guilty of degrading the river to be local residents; 63% – the authorities, 9% – holidaymakers, 6% – the police and inspection services;

71% considered that environmental problems should be solved by conducting large-scale activities involving the public; 5% (people’s delegates to the Rayon Council) – by the local authorities’ being more proactive; 17% (representatives of the village council, land surveyors, farmers) – by the integrated use of both the above-mentioned methods; 3% considered that everything was fine as it was; and 4% did not answer this
question;

17% (representatives of the authorities) considered that the situation could be improved by changing national environmental legislation and raising public awareness; 14% (school pupils) – by environmental education of the population and authorities; 69% – by increasing the financing available for environmental
activities;

60% (mainly schoolchildren, young people and some pensioners) wanted to make their own efforts to improve the situation at the river without further discussions; 40% (mainly those involved in agriculture, representatives of the authorities) – thought that activities should be carried out in people’s own leisure
time.

A booklet about the small rivers of Tokmak Rayon
was published and disseminated

In order to provide more information to the
population about river problems in Tokmak Rayon, a booklet entitled
"River Chyngul: Past, Present, Future..." was published (circulation
500 copies). The booklet was disseminated to schools, City and Rayon
Departments of Education, the Rayon State Administration, Zhovtneva
Village Council, libraries and at large events (concerts, the "Zorepad
2003" festival). Some copies were disseminated within Zaporizka
Oblast (State Department of Environment and Natural Resources in
Zaporizka Oblast, Department of Family and Youth of the Oblast State
Administration, NGOs and the Oblast Regional Museum).

Environmental education lessons were given in
village and city schools

The organisation prepared four lectures about the
problems of small rivers. For this, they used information from the
website of the Ukrainian Rivers Network about the state of small
rivers, their regimes and dynamics, causes of degradation and ways
to improve the situation (authors: Lesya Zub and Galyna Karpova).
Via Departments of Education, lectures were disseminated to
geography teachers in Tokmak city (eight schools in total),
Zhovtneve and Chervonogirka villages, and the city of Molochansk.
Lectures were given to 5th and 8th-grade pupils during geography
lessons about their native land and the physical geography of
Ukraine, as well as to children in other classes during civics
lessons. In Chervonogirka and Zhovtneve villages, lectures were
combined with educational excursions to the River Chyngul and River
Kurkulak.

Practical activities were organised to improve the
state of rivers

During autumn 2003 and spring 2004, 1,690 trees were
planted on the banks and floodplain of the Rivers Chyngul and
Kurkulak. New gardens were established on the floodplain of the
Chyngul, and residents of Chervonogirka (where the source of the
River Chyngul is located) and schoolchildren were invited to plant
trees there. During 'Environment Day', children from Chervonogirka
School planted about 900 trees in the protected area on the
floodplain of the Chyngul. A "Celebration of the Environment",
with a theatre performance and festive meeting, was organised in the
school, with 54 schoolchildren present (grades 1-9). An analysis of
the state of trees planted during 2004 showed that the trees that
did best were elms (94%) and maples (65%). Almost 100% of fruit
trees took root in the garden and on the floodplain. Among ash trees,
only those that were planted some distance from the river survived (only
97 of the 750 ash trees planted survived). One of the reasons for
this may be that in spring the grass was burnt off along the river
bank, and the trees dried out, therefore educational activities
among the population should be devoted to explaining the
inadvisability of burning off as a technique for drying plants and
canes.

From October 2003 to April 2004, practical activities
were undertaken to improve the state of the River Chyngul and its
floodplain. Three large rubbish dumps were removed (requiring 18
huge trailers) in Chervonogirka, Sadove and Zhovtneve villages. In
spring 50 trees were planted in Chervonogirka village, where the
rubbish dump had been. Unfortunately, because the trees had to
compete with wild grasses at this site the activity did not achieve
the expected results as, apart from the maples, the majority of the
trees did not take root. This led to the conclusion that it is
better to plant maples at former rubbish dumps due to their high
resistance to competition from wild grasses. In Sadove village,
children, young people and other residents now try to keep the river
and areas around river clean. At the site where the rubbish dump had
been, they plan to establish a small garden.

Information posters were set up in the "Floodplain
of the River Chyngul" protected area of local importance

The "Zhovtneve" communal enterprise
produced information posters; the first was installed near the
"Floodplain of the River Chyngul" protected area and
another was set up at the River Kurkulak. The posters inform the
citizens about water-protection zones and rules of behaviour within
them.

During project implementation, information was given
to the city newspaper, "Our City, Tokmak", the city and
rayon newspaper, "Visnyk Tokmachchyny" (News of Tokmak
Rayon), and the Oblast newspaper, "Subota plus";
information about project implementation was also given on the radio.

The main achievement of the project was that
the attention of the local population and authorities was drawn to
the river's problems. After the rubbish dump was removed, residents
of Sadove village contacted "Spilka Druziv Pryrody" to
complain that even after the dump had been cleared city residents
were still bringing their rubbish to the same place, making a new
rubbish dump. The villagers who formerly used the rubbish dump here
are now protecting the site.